The invention relates to a method of displaying an electronic program guide, comprising the step of receiving attribute values relating to program attributes (e.g. channel name, broadcast time, program category, program title).
The invention further relates to an apparatus for receiving a plurality of programs, comprising decoding means for receiving and decoding attribute values relating to program attributes.
Such a method and apparatus are well known. For example, known television receivers and set-top boxes comprise an electronic program guide (EPG) which is capable of receiving and decoding program data, such as channel number and broadcast time, relating to programs which will be transmitted in the near future. Generally, such an EPG shows a list of program titles and the clock-times, indicating at which time and by which channel the programs will be transmitted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,608 discloses a television receiver capable of showing said data in a so called grid TV guide, comprising an array of cells, each cell containing program data relating to a distinct program.
A disadvantage of the known method and apparatus is that a lot of information is presented, particularly in a textual format, which makes it hard for a user to get a quick overview of programs which might be of interest to him. Furthermore, scrolling of the known EPGs is cumbersome, because it involves redrawing the entire data area, whereby some data are moved to another position, while other data are removed or new data are added. This is distracting and causes the user to loose focus easily. Scrolling proceeds by fits and starts, determined by the dimensions of cells or columns, which leads to a further deterioration of the user-friendliness.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus of the type defined in the opening paragraph which allow the user to search an EPG for desired programs in a more convenient way. To that end the method according to the invention is characterized in that
the method further comprises the steps of:
displaying values relating to a selected program attribute on a display screen along a coordinate axis;
user-operably selecting a value of said program attribute; and
displaying a pictogram representative of a program which corresponds with the currently selected value, the pictogram""s position having a coordinate along said coordinate axis which corresponds to the currently selected attribute value.
The method according to the invention thus presents an axis and a pictogram on the TV screen. The rest of the TV screen may show a suitable background or it may remain dedicated to the currently selected program, allowing the user to keep viewing the program. The axis may have any length, direction and position on the screen, but preferably, the axis is located near and parallel to one of the borders of the TV screen, to minimize the disturbance of the main picture. The axis may have any shape, for example, linear or, curved, or it may have multiple segments extending in different directions, for example, along different borders of the screen. The axis may be assigned any program attribute, e.g. the program category, broadcast time or the service (or program) name. Along the axis, values of a selected attribute are distributed, e.g. category names, clock-times or channel names. The axis may be, for example, a line adjacent said values, or a semi-transparent bar enclosing said values. Some or all of the other elements of the electronic program guide, such as the pictogram and the values along the axes, may be semi-transparent too. One of the values along the axis is made more prominent in some way, indicating that this value is the currently selected one. For example, the value could be highlighted, enlarged, or shifted. Additionally, it can be connected to the pictogram by means of a line or bar, to clearly indicate that the contents of the pictogram corresponds to the currently selected value. If the broadcast time attribute is assigned to the axis, the clock-times may correspond to half hours, while additionally some indication of the date and/or day of the week may be displayed. The content of the pictogram may be textual information, e.g. attribute values related to other program attributes, or still pictures or preview motion pictures which are transmitted along with the EPG data. Generally, multiple programs correspond to the selected attribute value. For example, if the currently selected attribute value is a clock-time, the corresponding programs are the programs which are broadcast at that particular time. The system could select an arbitrary program from the corresponding programs, to be presented by the pictogram. Alternatively, the corresponding programs could be further filtered by means of a user-profile. For example, if the user-profile indicates that the user is only interested in programs of particular program categories, the system could show only corresponding programs belonging to those program categories. The remaining corresponding programs may be represented by subdividing the pictogram or showing multiple pictograms, possible in an overlapping way (e.g. like a visual representation of a card-file).
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the step of selecting a value comprises dragging the pictogram to a new position on the display screen, the new position""s coordinate along said coordinate axis determining a newly selected value. The dragging of the pictogram may be performed by means of any suitable known input device or method, such as a computer mouse, a tracker ball, voice control or by the usual arrow-keys on the remote control, possibly after a predetermined command which starts the dragging of the pictogram and before another command or a time-out for ending the dragging operation. The same input device or method could be used to select the program represented by the pictogram, or request additional information about said program. Dragging the pictogram causes a value along the axis to be highlighted other then the currently selected value.
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the step of selecting a value comprises shifting said coordinate axis, the pictogram""s coordinate determining a newly selected value. A similar input device may be used for shifting the axis. The axis may be shifted by dragging it, i.e. similar to dragging the pictogram. Alternatively, the axis could start shifting autonomously, in response to a suitable user command, indicating the desired direction. During the shifting of the axis, the position of the pictogram does not change, which provides a very smooth way of searching the EPG because the user simply needs to focus on the pictogram, waiting until it represents an interesting program.
A preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the speed of shifting said coordinate axis is proportional to the difference between the pictogram""s coordinate and the coordinate of a user-adjustable cursor position. If the coordinate of the cursor coincides with the coordinate of the currently selected value, the axis does not shift. If the cursor is moved, the axis starts shifting at a speed proportional to the said difference.
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that when the pictogram is dragged until its coordinate reaches an extremity of the coordinate axis, the step of shifting said coordinate axis is performed to obtain a subsequent adjustment of the selected value. In this embodiment, the previous embodiments are combined in a very convenient way. Dragging the pictogram proceeds as usual until its coordinate reaches an extremity of the axis. At that moment, the axis starts shifting in a direction opposite to the direction of dragging, hence the selected value is adjusted as if the pictogram were dragged beyond the extremity of the axis. All of this is experienced by the user as one continuous movement.
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the method further comprises the step of receiving data to indicate a program of particular interest, and the step of displaying a symbol representing such a program at a position having a coordinate in accordance with the program""s value relating to the selected program attribute. The symbol may be a dedicated icon or character to draw the user""s attention to a program which might be of interest to him, and which icon or character is displayed at the position corresponding to the time and channel at which said interesting program is or will be transmitted. For example, a service provider can choose to promote particular events from his service/bouquet by displaying them within the EPG, as a moving or animated icon/AV-icon that regularly pops up at said position. This way the service provider can attract attention and pull viewers to a particular content he wants to xe2x80x98advertisexe2x80x99, e.g. to promote a particular program or product. The icon may be animated or flashing for some time to attract the user""s attention. If the user is interested, he may drag the pictogram to the position of the symbol, to obtain more information about the suggested program. The symbol may stay on the screen for a predetermined period of time and then disappear again. Possibly, multiple symbols are presented simultaneously.
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the method further comprises a step of user-operably assigning another one of the program attributes to the coordinate axis. Hence, the user is allowed to choose which attribute is represented by the axis. For example, if the channel name attribute is assigned to the axis, the user is allowed to search programs transmitted by a selected channel, while if the broadcast time attribute is assigned to the axis, the user is allowed to search programs transmitted at a selected time.
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that the method further comprises displaying values relating to a further one of the program attributes on the display screen along a further coordinate axis, the method proceeding similarly with respect to the combination of said coordinate axis and said further coordinate axis. By supplying two axes representing two different program attributes, the user is allowed to impose an additional constraint on the programs to be represented by the pictogram. Hence, the size of said set of corresponding programs is reduced. The additional axis behaves in a way similar to the first axis, so both axes can be shifted independently. Dragging the pictogram may influence the selected value of either one of the axes or the selected values of both axes at the same time, dependent on whether the pictogram""s coordinate along each axis has changed.
An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that said program attribute is the channel number and said further program attribute is the broadcast time. The combination of these specific attributes guarantees that at most one program corresponds to the selected values, namely the program which is transmitted by the selected channel at the selected time. This could be the default assignment, applied after turning the system on.
The method according to the invention is particularly suitable for television receivers and set-top boxes. The invention may be applied, for example, to EPG data transmitted with TV broadcast signals, obtained from the Internet, from a dedicated digital subscriber line, or from a local storage device. The EPG data may relate to, for example, TV broadcast programs, near video on demand programs or locally stored programs. Furthermore, EPG data from various sources may be combined, for example, from broadcast signals and local storage.